Top series has a real Talent for bringing out best of us
IHAVE had rather a grim, bordering on traumatic week watching TV. First up, I had to deal with the crippling case of lockjaw I suffered while watching the Netflix film Abducted In Plain Sight.
It is a shocking documentary which stays with viewers long after the credits roll and many have been struggling with questions since it became available to stream last week. The true crime film charts the story of Idaho girl Jan Broberg who was abducted — twice, first at the age of 12 — by Robert B Berchtold, a man who befriended, seduced, and manipulated her parents in the 1970s.
All I will say is that you will be gobsmacked, dumbfounded and totally bamboozled by the series of events that make up this mindboggling film.
As if that wasn’t enough, I also decided to tackle the Surviving R Kelly documentary. This five-episode series is available now through Sky Q and is nothing short of shocking. The rapper is allegedly one of the most controlling and manipulative men on the planet and, while this makes for tough viewing, I would urge every one of you to search it out and watch it in full.
IT is as much an indictment of the music industry that to this day allows him to release new music as it is an exposé of an allegedly sordid and twisted private life so shocking it would give Michael Jackson a run for his money. But it does leave you a little drained and done with documentaries.
So thank heaven for that ray of sunshine that is Ireland’s Got Talent. We live in a time where crime, sex and misery are rammed down our throats. Binge-worthy streaming allows for a conveyorbelt of content to dwarf the senses. But with IGT you get one hour a week of good old-fashioned fun and variety that is uniquely Irish.
There is something classically brilliant about Talent. For a start, the producers Kite and Virgin Media have spent somewhere in the region of €3million making sure that the set is as good as their English counterparts. The judging panel of Louis Walsh, Denise Van Outen, Jason Byrne and the fabulous Michelle Visage have stepped it up a notch for season two.
But this show lives and dies on the calibre of talent that walks through the door. It is for this reason that I believe Ireland’s Got Talent is up there with First Dates as the best Irish take on an imported format.
This show is an anxiety panacea where good vibes and great heart bring the family together to cheer for their favourite variety acts. Last week saw BSD dance troupe from Swords in Dublin get the Golden Buzzer from Jason Byrne — they join Sea of Change, an allfemale choir made up of cancer survivors and supporters who are all through to the live shows. There are still three Golden Buzzers up for grabs and I know from talking to Louis Walsh there are some amazing acts still to come.
Tomorrow you have Liberty Byrnes, 17, and Timea Farkas, 44, a mother and daughter from Rosetown in Co. Meath. Originally from Hungary, Liberty moved with her mum and sister to Ireland when she was just four. She and her mum have both been singing all their lives, not that you would know it. But they are not humiliated or set up for ridicule and when the audition is over both they and the audience feel that they were part of something fun and worthwhile.
Ciaran Beahan, 19, is a Rubix Cube master. Only on IGT would you get the chance to be wowed by a teenager who has broken 13 European Records and back-toback European titles in the European Championship 6x6 Rubix Cube. But when it comes to heartwarming moments, you won’t find better than mother and son duo Sharon, 41, and Brandon, 19, Webb from Kildare. Last year, Brandon ended up in a coma after a night out. Doctors prepared his family for the worst but he pulled through. The bond between this duo is evident when they perform and I guarantee you, the hardest men and women will be weeping.
So this Saturday (after the rugby), plan some family time. Get the popcorn in, break open the Haribo and gather the kids for an old school night of entertainment that simply can’t be beat.